Jets' Adam Gase Gives Cryptic Explanation For Benching Offensive Lineman

New York Jets guard Alex Lewis was inactive against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. Jets head coach Adam Gase revealed the situation is being handled internally

The Jets had two offensive linemen miss Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins due to injury. So why were three offensive linemen inactive?

Starting right tackle George Fant and backup Chuma Edoga were both doubtful to play this week due to injuries. Therefore, that was no surprise to see those two inactive on Sunday morning. 

Starting left guard Alex Lewis, however, sat on Sunday as well. He missed multiple practices this week and was listed under "not injury related" on New York's final Week 12 injury report.

After the Jets' 20-3 loss to Miami, Jets head coach Adam Gase was asked what happened with Lewis.

"It was a team decision to make him inactive," Gase said.

Was he benched for disciplinary reasons?

"We’re going to handle everything internally," he added.

Veteran Greg Van Roten, who hasn't missed a single snap this season, was surprised about the news that Lewis wouldn't be out there against the Dolphins. Based on his take on the matter, New York is evidently keeping the details of what went down very close to the vest.

"I'm not really sure what's going on with him," Van Roten said. "So we were surprised, but hopefully things are okay and we'll see what happens. I'm not really sure what's going on, honestly."

Lewis had played in 87.46 percent of the Jets' offensive snaps through Week 11. In his place, former Vikings lineman Pat Elflein—who the Jets picked up off waivers a few weeks ago—got the start at left guard. 

Gase recently called Elflein a center with "guard flexibility."

In Sam Darold's return from injury, the quarterback was sacked three times for a total of 24 total yards lost. Connor McDermott got the start in place of Fant at right tackle.

"It's hard enough to get comfortable in general, and then you start shuffling guys in, you don't have a lot of experience playing next to certain people," Van Roten explained. "Pat just got here on Wednesday, so I give him a lot of credit for being able to decode the offensive language. I think Connor and Mekhi [Becton] did a good job of helping him out and I think Pat played pretty well all things considered. You want to play the same five guys the whole year because that's how you get in a rhythm, that's how you stay consistent"

As for what's next for Lewis, the fourth-year lineman told ESPN's Rich Cimini on Monday that he's "shooting for" playing next week. 

Jets LG Alex Lewis, benched yesterday in what was called a non-injury "team decision," told ESPN today in a brief phone convo: "There's no issue at all." Asked if he expects to play this wk, he said, "I'm shooting for it." May not be as simple as that. Still developing. #Jets

— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) November 30, 2020

Lewis may have told Cimini that there's "no issue at all," but only time will tell if this can be resolved (and what exactly resulted in Lewis being benched).

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